Posts Tagged ‘police’

A man in his 40s – the second victim since last Wednesday — has died following a riot at a funeral and general strike by Arab business owners and Negev Bedouin schools in Israel.

The man, a Bedouin, was in his 40s. He was allegedly participating in a riot against Israeli police following the funeral held for a man who was shot by police last Wednesday.

The strike Sunday was held to mourn 21-year-old Sami al-Ajar, a resident of Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in Israel. After his funeral Sunday, more than two dozen people were wounded, including one seriously. Two police officers were hurt, one in serious condition.

The violence began late last Wednesday with a raid by police who came to Rahat to execute a search warrant on a suspected drug house.

Police were attacked by a mob that gathered to hurl rocks, bottles and other objects at the officers.

Police initially used standard crowd-dispersal methods to control the mob, but as things spiraled out of control, they fired into the air to protect themselves and their two prisoners, they said. Al-Ajar was shot in the melee.

New York City police officers were given new orders on Sunday at roll call: “Remain alert and consider tactics at all times.”

It sounds pretty basic but the instructions carried an extra bit of warning after the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria terror group issued a new direct threat to the world.

“Pay close attention, and look for their hands,” the curt memo continues.

New York’s finest are already in a state of heightened security in the wake of last week’s terror attacks in Paris.

Although there has been no specific threat extra police were placed on patrol after ISIS issued a worldwide call to attack soldiers, police, civilians and anyone else by “lone wolf” operators.

In addition, police were told they can no longer sit together to eat or wait in patrol cars; one officer must be outside standing guard at all times.

“Basically… none of us are safe,” commented a correspondent for New York’s ABC News.

However, NYPD has yet to prepare its force to meet the challenge in a comprehensive way. Few of the patrol officers on the street have actually received any training whatsoever in how to deal with terrorism. Such skills are not part of the regular Police Academy curriculum for America’s largest police force, even though one could argue that New York is one of the three top targeted cities in the United States.

Since the Al Qaeda attack on the Twin Towers at New York City’s World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the NYPD ESU squad is tasked with responding to terror threats. But the rank and file has had no such training; the force is poorly equipped to deal with the kind of challenges that Paris security personnel had to face last week.

One day after radical Islamist terrorists killed 12 people in Paris, Israel’s Embassy in Uruguay was evacuated Thursday by emergency teams in response to a bomb scare.

Israeli diplomatic staff and visitors emptied out of the Montevideo World Trade Center complex where the embassy is located, after a “suspicious item” was found in the building.

According to a report in the local El Pais, the device was actually placed by the country’s security officials to test local police readiness and response times. The suspicious device had no explosive capabilities and could not have detonated, according to Chief Alfredo Larramendi of the Explosives Brigade.

The measure passed in a landslide vote that has since allowed the Palestinians to join hundreds of international treaties and organizations – including most recently the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

PA leaders are now proceeding to charge Israel with committing war crimes in PA territory and crimes against humanity from the period starting June 13, 2014 – the day after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian Hamas terrorists.

Cancela told the world body after the UN vote his government believed there could not be a solution for Middle East peace without the existence of two consolidates States. He expressed Uruguay’s support of the “States of Israel and Palestine to live in peace, within safe and recognized borders” but said there was “no replacement for bilateral dialogue, which should resume as soon as possible.”

Police have arrested two Arabs who have been breaking into cars and terrorizing residents of Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem. Officers confiscated tools, weapons and an IDF hat that apparently was used as a disguise.

Wenjian Liu, the first Chinese-American cop in New York to be killed in the line of duty, was honored in his home 84th precinct Sunday with a sea of blue stretching “as far as the eye could see.”

Among the crowd were representatives from all the Jewish first response and security teams, as well as many Jewish civilian residents of Brooklyn. “Hakaras hatov” – acknowledging and thanking someone for the good they’ve done – was the reason given over and over when asked why they came.

Tearfully, Liu’s young widow Pei Xia Chen thanked the tens of thousands who gathered to grieve with her.

“He is my soul mate… an incredible husband, son, co-worker and friend; my best friend. As the only son, the Number One Son, he was extremely close [to] and respected his parents, of course,” she added. “One his many passions was being a police officer. He took pride in the fact that he was NYPD… I thank you, my extended family, my family of blue.”

The couple had wed only two months prior to Liu’s death. The 32-year-old police officer, promoted posthumously to first detective, had been on the job for seven years. Together with his parents he emigrated from China 20 years ago, with a dream to become a cop.

In addition to Sunday’s funeral, Liu’s family was to hold private ceremonies in the Buddhist and Chinese traditions as well.

“God bless America. God bless NYPD. You are the best!” Liu’s father said in a broken voice after delivering a eulogy in Chinese.

In addition to his wife, his father, cousins and city officials, a police chaplain and FBI Director James Comey spoke.

“These are our most difficult days,” Comey said. “I make far too many calls [like these] … 115 police officers killed this year, a shocking increase over 2013. I do not understand evil, I cannot understand evil. Our obligation is to do good, to honor this good man and do everything to protect those who would protect us. They want to do good for other people.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was to have spoken as well, but his own father passed away on New Year’s Day and arrangements for the wake and funeral, which are to take place Monday and Tuesday, were still being made.

With reddened eyes and a husky voice, Police Commissioner William Bratton expressed the feelings of the “thousands upon thousands” of officers standing outside a Brooklyn funeral home on a “very gray morning.” He commented that Liu was about to join his partner, “his partner for all time,” First Detective Rafael Ramos – also promoted posthumously –to be laid to rest. The two were executed by deranged gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley while eating lunch in their squad car. Brinsley turned the gun on himself right after.

“Liu believed in the possibility of a city free from fear,” Bratton told his family, who had traveled from China to attend the funeral. “The NYPD has done that for millions upon millions of citizens of this city.”

Addressing the tens of thousands of officers, Bratton went on to explain: “He left China at age 12, and his parents worked hard; his father was a garment worker in Queens. Liu called himself Joe and was on the way to becoming an accountant on 9/11, the day Al Qaeda attacked the Twin Towers.” That event changed his life, and inspired Liu to become a cop instead.

“The NYPD looks like the city it serves,” Bratton noted. “Our heroes are from everywhere too.” He listed the departed and the lands from which they had emigrated to America. Ramos and Liu came last.